


Like the Gun

by aureagracie



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Multi, Supernatural Reverseverse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-16
Updated: 2013-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-04 21:29:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1085890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aureagracie/pseuds/aureagracie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel Novak is one of the best hunters out there. He's never lost to a monster. But when one hunt goes awry, he finds himself faced with something he's not so sure about: the truth. What started out as a hunt for a demon unravels into so much more, and Castiel finds himself stuck in the centre of it all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lawrence, Kansas

**Author's Note:**

> okay, so this is my first fanfic! heck yes. i want to thank you for coming this far, and i hope you enjoy!! please leave kudos if you enjoyed, and possibly a review/comment. it'd be much appreciated. whispers i'm sorry i have a habit of writing shortass chapters

Castiel was a cynical man.

Raised into such a religious family- made quite obvious by his parents’ choice of name for their child- should’ve turned Cas into a spitting image of his ancestors. Church every Sunday, confession every Friday. He’d been homeschooled because his parents believed any form of school to be ‘unholy’. Praying, and praying, and praying. In fact, Castiel could never really remember the last time he was allowed to be an ordinary child; he could never really recall anything but study and work and church. Some life it had been, nothing compared to now. 

Now, his mother was dead, and his father had left him. 

When he said now, Castiel didn’t mean it had happened yesterday. The actual event only occurred a year or two ago, but even now the memory of coming home to... that made him freeze. It was best to just not think about it, to immerse himself in whatever job he was finishing up at the time. Just take out the anger on whatever monster he had happened to get his hands on. And since that fateful night, Castiel had never believed in God. Or angels.

He did believe in demons, however. It was hard not to believe in anything in his line of work, aside from the obvious. In fact, a demon was exactly what he’d arrived in Lawrence, Kansas to hunt. Or he thought so, at least. Some other hunter had called him and asked him to check it out: even John Winchester had emotions, and the sentimental ties with the place apparently made it impossible for him to do any sort of job there anymore. Being good friends with the guy, and without anything to occupy his time for a while, Castiel had gratefully accepted the offer and set off.

He pulled up outside the house in question- or what remained of it, anyway. From the look of the damage, of the charred black remnants of what once housed a happy family, this was no ordinary house fire. Castiel could almost imagine the licks of flame dancing up into the night sky and swallowing innocent people. A married couple were among the victims. Children? He couldn’t remember, but hoped to whatever good was out there that there weren’t any children involved. He wouldn’t wish this kind of fate on anyone.  
Sliding over the vinyl seat, Cas pushed the driver’s door and steadied himself on the metal frame as he stepped out. A closer look at the place told him that he had a long job ahead of him. Whatever did do this (although his suspicion of demon work was growing every minute), they knew how to cover the evidence. Namely, incinerate it. There wouldn’t be any bodies to inspect. Suppressing a sigh, the hunter walked up to the remains of the house and began to look around. There wasn’t much to see. A sprinkling of sulphur littered the ground, and Cas couldn’t help but grin. His instincts were always right.

He continued through the ruins. Every once in a while he saw something that had survived the furnace, if only slightly, and he collected the items together. The hunter couldn’t quite explain why he did it. Maybe some sign of respect for the victims? It would make sense, he supposed. Castiel was the kind to do these things; no other hunter bothered, only wishing to finish the job as soon as possible. His partner, Alfie, often joked about it. Too much heart was always your problem, Cas.  
Castiel snapped out of his memories with Alfie when he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. Would the demon really be so stupid as to stay in the house once they’d finished the job? Or was it something else? “Damn it,” he muttered, fumbling in his jacket for his pistol. As quietly as he could, Cas pulled it out and held it in front of him, arms tense and hands ever so slightly trembling. “Hello?” His gravelly voice rang out and met silence, save for a frantic scuffling. Someone was trying to escape: not on Cas’ watch. He headed towards the source of the noise, and it immediately ceased. Whatever it was had obviously sensed him coming. Castiel himself froze, scanning around him for some other sign of movement. 

And that was when something slammed into him from behind.


	2. Bolinas, California

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No weapons, no clue where he is, and things are definitely more than strange.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what the heckie, this fic already got reads n stuff??? wow ok. thanks to everyone who took the time to read! here is the second chapter...  
> i only have 4 chapters sorted so far. so don't expect a chapter update like every day. but whatever, enough from me, enjoy this chapter~

He had no idea where he was when he woke up- in fact, he hadn’t a clue how he’d gotten there either. A town, seemingly deserted, save for the few people roaming around close to a cafe. No one had noticed Castiel, which was strange. Stranger was the fact that when he instinctively reached for his gun he found nothing. Cas checked his pocket for his knife. Still nothing. Whatever had happened, whoever had sent him here, had made sure the hunter was completely unarmed. Did the demon do this?

Castiel frowned, glancing around him. He tilted his head in confusion as he surveyed the area, and hesitated before striding over to the cafe. “How can a demon teleport someone?” He asked no one in particular, under his breath. “How is it possible?” 

As he wandered over to a free table in the quiet building, a young, freckly waiter hurried over and smiled warmly. “You here to order?”  
Cas thought for a moment. Maybe he did deserve to think about this over some food. “Yes. A burger, please- and if you have more than one kind, surprise me.” The waiter nodded, jotted something down on his notepad and turned to walk away, when the hunter called him back. “And, uh... Could you tell me where I am?”

The young man seemed startled for a moment, before shrugging with a smile. “You’re in Bolinas. California. I know, it's pretty unheard of, but... did you get lost or something?”  
California? He hadn’t even heard of the town in particular, but Castiel was sure that it was a long way from Lawrence. I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore... Cas thought, before rolling his eyes at his own stupid joke. “Not exactly. It’s... A long story.” 

The waiter looked concerned for a fraction of a second; but it wasn’t his business to pry into customers’ private lives, so nodded and scurried away to relay the order. That left Castiel to his thoughts, and his hand strayed yet again to the empty space where his gun should’ve been. The last thing he remembered... Something slamming into him when he was at that house. It had felt like he’d been hit by a bus. Surely a demon wouldn’t have done that? And surely, surely they would’ve killed him instead of sending him here?

\--

“So. Cas comes to the house- a sitting target practically- and you didn’t take the chance?” The voice was full of confusion, but edging it were hints of malice. It filled Dean with fear. This man was only a demon, hardly a match against someone like him... but that was when he didn’t pretty much have Dean on a leash. All he’d known for a while now was following orders, obeying the guy. And this time, his orders were clear. Destroy the hunter who came to the house.

“No...” Came his hesitant reply. The figure’s eyebrow arched, and Dean was quick to add, “-sir. No, sir. But c’mon, can’t you give me a break? The guy seems harmless enough!”  
“Yeah. He seems that way. Look, I’d explain to you exactly why I wanted him killed, but I shouldn’t have to. You should be following my orders without question, no need for an explanation. Am I making myself clear, Dean?” Dean sighed and nodded. He couldn’t tell this demon the real reason he hadn’t killed Castiel as soon as he’d seen him; he’d have been happy enough to had it been any other hunter. But something about that hunter had been... different. He couldn’t explain it. But obviously this man wouldn’t understand, so there was no point in even trying. “Yes, sir. I zapped him off to someplace in California, d’you want me to go finish him off while he’s unarmed?”

“Make sure you’re quick. And don’t try anything funny while you’re gone, Dean. Remember last time?”  
And with that menacing thought left in Dean’s head, the demon had shooed him off, and the next thing he knew, he was in Bolinas.


	3. Hello, Stranger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While contemplating his situation, Castiel finds himself faced with a stranger offering to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops forgot i was meant to upload stuff???? ty to the guest who left kudos and so reminded me!  
> thanks to everyone who has read and/or left kudos so far, it means a lot and you're all hella sweet. hope you enjoy this chapter!  
> (as it's the leadup to christmas and i still need to get presents oops i may not get time to write much. i'll put as much time as i can into it, though!)

“Hey.” 

The unfamiliar voice jolted Castiel out of his thoughts, and made him snap to attention with a hand already reaching for his gun- before he remembered it wasn’t there. Shit. He took a breath, and surveyed the man who had just taken the seat opposite and was now offering a friendly smile. Freckles dotted his face- which looked like it had been chiselled by God himself, if God actually existed- and only ended at his eyes, which were a startling emerald green. They were creased at the edges by his smile, but something told Castiel that the man before him didn’t often smile. It took him a few moments of stunned silence to realise that the guy had greeted him. 

“...Hello. Who are you?” The hunter asked bluntly, tilting his head with an inquiring look upon his features. And to his surprise, the man laughed.  
“Name’s Dean.” Dean held out his hand, expecting Castiel to shake it. Wasn’t that how humans greeted strangers? Apparently not, because all the other did was stare down at the tanned hand with even more confusion than before. There was something about this ‘Dean’, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“Dean who?” Was his only reply, and Dean slowly withdrew his hand in a moment of thoughtfulness.  
“Um... Winchester. Dean Winchester.”  
“Like the gun?”  
“I guess. Like the gun.”

Castiel took in another deep breath. The amount of time it had taken Dean to think up that last name, and to have it named after the very gun the demon must have taken from Castiel, sent an alarm off in his mind. But Dean... He didn’t seem like a demon. Castiel’s gut was telling him that although Dean was hiding something, it wasn’t that; and the hunter’s gut never failed him. Either way, he’d have to feign ignorance, at least until he acquired a weapon. No use muttering ‘Christo’ and having his gut be wrong, and having nothing to defend himself against a very pissed off demon. 

“Right. I’m very sorry to pry, Mr Winchester-“  
“Dean. Call me Dean.”  
“-okay, Dean, but... Why exactly are you talking to me now?”  
Dean seemed shocked at the question, as if it was completely natural to sit at a stranger’s table and start chatting with him. “Because you’re lost? Garth told me so. Told me that some guy’s in his café, real confused, asking where he is. And if that’s not lost, I don’t know what is.”  
“Garth...?” Oh. The waiter. Castiel glanced back and saw the very waiter, smiling at them both with the pride of a man who had just done his bit for mankind. “It’s nice that you want to help me. But I believe I can find my own way back, thank you.”

“Dude. You’re in the middle of nowhere practically, no way of gettin’ around, and you tell me you can get back to wherever you were just fine?” Dean scoffed, and Castiel realised he was right. Whatever had sent him here had thought this one out. He cursed under his breath, then nodded. “Okay. Are you going to take me somewhere else?”  
Dean seemed to consider the question, weighing out his choices. “If by ‘somewhere else’ you mean my place, then yeah. You can crash there for the night, then we get you back to wherever the hell you wanna be tomorrow morning. Sound good?”

Castiel frowned. Staying with this utter stranger in a dangerous situation like this was surely a bad move, yet… He wanted to. It wasn’t just because Dean was good looking. That something about him: pure. That was the word to describe him. Righteous, even. So against his better judgement, and knowing Alfie would have been lecturing him all night for this, Castiel found himself nodding again. “Yes. Do you want to leave now, Dean?”  
“Sure.”

Garth walked back to the table with Castiel’s order, before spotting the two men walking back down the street. Looked like he’d have to finish this meal off himself.

**Author's Note:**

> this may not update loads, but i do promise that i will try to update it when i can, and i really hope you like what you've read so far. IT WILL NOT include solely team free will- i do promise that i will focus just as much on other characters because i love them so much too omg  
> but yeah, thanks for reading, i hope you'll read on!!


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